Airplane mooring anchor



June 3, 1941. J, Q SCOTT 2,243,886

AIRPLANE MOORING ANCHOR Filed Dec. 2, 1938 2 Sheets-Sheet l June 3, 1941. J. c. scoTT AIRPLANE MOORING ANCHOR Filed Dec. 2, 1938 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented June 3, 1941 UNITED STATE sl PArlzrrr oFFIcE (Grantedunder the act of March 3, 1883, as amended April 30,1928; 370 0. G. 757) The invention described herein may be manufactured and used by or for the Government for governmental purposes, without the payment to me of any royalty thereon.

My invention relates to anchoring devices for airplanes and the like.

In the event of forced landings lof aircraft, the pilot often finds it necessary to leave the craft while he seeks aid. Because of the requirement of open ilelds for landing, thelocale of the shipv is usually in open terrain with no natural or ar- 'ticial obstructions to which it might be antions, and do not provide the most efficient anchoring capacity per unit of weight.

It is an object of my invention to provide a novel earth anchoring device to meet the abovenamed deficiencies.

It is a further object of my invention to pro- Y vide an earth anchoring device with means for insuring positive operation thereof.

It is still a further object of my invention to provide a novel anchoring device having a greatly improved holding capacity with littleor no increase in weight.

It is a'still further object of my invention to provide a novel mooring eye which will also serve as a tool for disassembling the retaining means from said anchor.`

Further advantages and objects of my invention will be readily apparent from the following description and accompanying drawingawherein like reference characters refer to like parts throughout the several views:v

Fig. l is a perspective view, showing the anchor in driving assembly;

Fig. 2 is a similar view, showing the driving tube in the assembled spreading position;

Fig. 3 is a similar view, showing the anchor, with the driving tube removed, in the operative position, attached to an airplane;

Fig. 4 is` an` exploded view, showing the parts comprising the apparatus;

Fig. 5 is a section view of the anchor rod and driving tube in assembled spreading relation;

. Fig. 6 is a view of the mooring eye with parts `in section;

` Fig. 7 shows another embodiment for the anchor element of my invention; and

Fig. 8 shows another embodiment for the mooring eye. I

rReferring to the drawings, it will be seen that the anchoring apparatus, shown in Figs. 1 to 6 inclusive, comprises, as illustrated, a detachable, arrow-head or wedge-shaped anchoring root element IU, having a piercing portion I2 and a deflectable portion I3, a retaining means in the form of an anchor rod or shaft I4, driving and spreading means in the form of a tube I6, and a detachable mooring eye element I8. The parts of the anchor are preferably made detachable in order to permit convenient packing in a kit and to reduce the amount of necessarily expandible material to a minimum. The driving tube I6 forms no part of the anchor per se, but is an expedient part for accomplishing the anchorage.

The anchor rod I4 is of sufficient length to extend into the ground from two to three feet, and is threaded at its bottom end 2I l and provided with a polygonal portion 22 at its lupper end. Adjacent to the polygonal portion are threads 24. The driving tube I6 is slightly longer than the anchor rod I4 and is constructed of light-weight but strong material with a reinforced portion 26 at the bottom and a reinforced driving head 28 at the top. Also provided at the top is a rigid transverse handle 30. The inside diameter 32 of the driving tube, at both the reinforced top and bottom, is of suiiicient size to loosely receive the anchor rod I4. Because of the interior reinforcings at the top and bottom, the inside diameing tube is slightly larger than the diameter at the ends of the tube. There areprovided on the driving tube I6, a short distance from the bottom end 38, two lobes or `wedging elements 40 diametrically arranged for a purpose hereinafter described.

The anchoring root element I0, for use with lighter type aircraft, is preferably made of two stamped complemental sections 42, rigidly secured together at the triangular piercing portion i2 as by spot welding, leaving the deflectable portions I3 free for angular rotation about the edge 43 of the connected areas l2, which edge constitutes the axis of deflection. The stamped sections 42 are so formed that when joined together they provide a small cylinder portion 44 within the triangular piercing portion I2 of the anchoring root element of sufficient diameter to receive the anchor rod I4, a cut-out portion 46 intermediate of the ends of the cylinder 44 of small diameter, in which is fastened, as by welding, a nut 48, with threads complementary to the threads 28 on the anchor rod, a second cut-out portion 58 substantially coincident with the base 43 of the piercing portion I2, and a second cylindrical portion 64 disposed longitudinally of the upper portion I3 of the anchoring root element I and in concentric relation with the cylinder 44 and of larger diameter suflicient to receive the driving tube. The upper ends 58 of the sections 42 of the anchoring root element are flared outwardly for purposes hereinafter described.

The mooring eye I8, as illustrated in Fig. 6, consists of a ring 60 made integral, as by welding, with a stem portion 62. The stem portion contains a polygonal socket 64, adapted to receive the polygonal end 22 of the anchor rod I2, and is made with a radial flange 65 at the end external of the ring to provide an abutment for `an inwardly extending radial flange 66 on a knurled collar 68, to the open end of which collar is welded, or otherwise intimately secured, a nut I2 with threads I4 complementary to the threads 24 on the anchor rod. The knurled collar is assembled on the stem portion 62 before the ring 60 is permanently attached. It is thus seen that the combined knurled collar nut 68-12 is a permanently secured, rotatable, part of the mooring cye I8.

I preferably Weld all rigidly connected parts in order to achieve great strength with minimum weight of construction.

My anchoring device is used as follows: First, thelowerend of the rod I4 is threaded into the nut 48 in the anchoring root element I8 and then the driving tube I6 is mounted on the anchor rod with the lobes in the plane of the anchor point. It will be noted that the bottom 38 of the driving tube abuts the triangular piercing point I2 at the cut-out portion 58 adjoining the base edge 43. The anchoring root element I0 is then, through the medium of the driving tube, driven into the ground to the desired depth by means of a hammer or suitable tool as shown in Fig, 1. If found desirable, the ground .may first be broken by a suitable pointed tool to pre-V pare an initial opening to receive the anchoring root element. After the anchoring root element has been driven in the ground to the desired distance, the driving tube I6 is raised slightly to raise the lobes 40 out of the V-slot i8 at the ilared ends 58 of the driving point, turned on its axis 90, and again driven downward, thus causing the lobes, acting as a wedge, to start the spreading of the `upper ends 58 of the two portions I3 of the anchoring root element, causing the sections to bend about 43 as a fulcrum (Fig. 2). The grooves in the portions i3, provided by the cylindrical portion 54, serve to neceive the lobes 48 in this spreading operation, and thereby prevent inadvertent turning of the driving tube I6 during this step of the operation. The driving tube I 6 is then removed and the mooring eye i8 is threaded onto the upper end 24 of the anchor rod by means of the knurled collar nut 68-'i2. An upward pull is given to the anchoring rod to complete the Spreading of the deflectable portions I3 of the anchoring root element. Easy bending of the portions i3 of the anchor element at 43 is assured by virtue of the reduction of the cross-section of the metal because of the cut-out portion 50. The engagement with the earth.` of the ared ends 68 of the upper portions I3 causes the deectable portions I3 to bend or rotate about the axis of deilection 43 from the position attained after the incipient rotation effected by the lobes of the driving tube to a position approximately normal to the driving rod, with the fiat-plate areas being positively transverse of said rod. The portions I3 of the anchor ,element are prevented from making more than a angle bend by the contacting of the lower edge 88 of the cylindrical portion 54 at right angles with the cylinder 44. The arrangement of the piercing portion I2 of the anchoring root element in rigid relation with the anchor rod I4 and the provision of the single predetermined axis ,of\deection 43 for the deectable portions I3 insure positive angular rotation of the deectable portions I3 about the single predetermined axis of rotation 43 and prevent tilting about any other axis. The airplane or other article is then fastened to the ring with a suitable fastening means as shown in Fig. 3.

When the airplane is ready to be moved, the anchor rod I4 is salvaged from the anchoring device by unscrewing the rod from the anchoring root element I0 by turning the ring 60 of the mooring eye I8, leaving the element I0 in the ground. 'I'he mooring eye is effective for this purpose because of the engagement of the polygonal socket 64 with the polygonal portion 22 of the anchor rod.

Positive action of my anchoring device is assured by the provision of the spreading means consisting of the wedge elements 40 provided on the driving tube I6.' This is important for either hard or soft ground. In harder ground, the spreading means will give the portions I3 of the anchoring root element initial impetus to catch into the ground and prevent their withdrawal in thesame channel in which they were driven, into the ground. In soft ground, the spreading means is again effective to increase the transverse area of the anchor presented to the earth in a plane parallel to the surface, thereby increasing the resistance to upward pull and providing suiiicient anchorage to create sufricient internal forces to complete the opening of the anchoring root element. From the construction of the anchoring root element I8, it is to be observed that, should the ground on one side of the point be harder than on the other side, because of the presence of stone or other foreign object, the portion I3 of the opposite section 42 of the anchoring element will nevertheless perform its function.

The embodiment of the anchoring rootl element 82 for an anchor shown in Fig. '7 is similar in principle to the previously described anchoring root element I8, but is designed to be useful for anchoring devices of greater capacity. This point is formed as illustrated with a solid triangular piercing portion 84 and two separate flat-plate aps 86 hingedly connected to the triangular point at 88. The solid triangular piercing point 84 is tapped centrally thereof to provide an internally threaded tube 98 to receive the anchoring rod I4 and the flaps are formed with c0mplementary central grooves 92 s0 as to form a tube of a diameter to receive the driving tube I6 when they are held together in driving position. The operation of this anchor is similar to that of the previously described point.

The embodiment for a. mooringveye 94 shown in Fig. 8 is similar to the `mooring eye shown in and attachment tothe anchor rod', but it differs y in that, in lieu of the rigid ring B of Fig. 6,

there is now provided a rotatable pulley 96 with a circumferential groove 98 for receiving an endless cable or rope (not shown) adapted to be fastened to the airplane or other object to be secured. The base or stem IMI of this type of mooring eye is formed into a fork |02 for receiving a journal I 04 on which is mounted the pulley 96. 'Ihis mooring eye is preferably used in connection with the lanchor element 82 shown in Fig. 7 for use in anchoring relatively large loads and has the advantage of reducing the shearing force on the cable due to the effectiveness of the pulley in equalizing the forces set up in the cable under strain.

It is to be understood that my invention is not limited to the forms which areshown and described, but that various changes may be made without departing from the spirit thereof and the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. An anchoring device comprising, in combination, a root anchoring element having a piercing portion and having a plurality of deflectable portions integral therewith and extending up- Wardly and outwardly therefrom, relatively rigid retaining means detachably connected in Iixed relation to said anchoring element, a driving element slidably mounted on said retaining means and in abutting engagement with said 'piercing portion of said anchoring element for driving the same into the ground and camming means carried by said driving member and adapted to cooperate with said deflectable portions for causing an incipient deflection of the same, said deectable portions being bendable about an axis in a plane transverse to the longitudinal axis of said piercing portion upon partial outward displacement of the anchoring element while in the earth.

2. In combination, an earth anchoring root element, a relatively rigid retaining element readily detachably rotatably connected at one end to said anchoring root element, and mooring means detachably connected to the other end of said retaining element, said detachable mooring meansand said retaining element having complemental portions for interlocking against relative rotation to enable the rotation of said retaining element by said mooring means whereby disengagement of said retaining element from said anchoring element may be effected.

3.. An earth anchoring device comprising, in combination, a piercing element and a retaining element connected to said piercing element at a point intermediate the ends of said piercing element. said Piercing element being formed of a pair of members, each of said members having a lower piercing portion and an upper deilectable portion, said piercing portions being integrally connected together and said deflectable portions .being shaped to complementally provide a socket for receiving a driving member and to provide,`

whendeiiccted away from each other, abutments at their lower edges for limiting the angular displacement thereof to a predetermined value upon partial outward displacement of said piercing element from the earth.

4. As an article of manufacture, an earth anchoring root element formed of a pair of members rigidly joined in complemental arrangement at their` lower ends to provide a piercing portion and being separate at their upper ends to provide deiiectable portions, each of said members having a transverse cut intermediate the edges thereof and between said piercing portion and said deflectable portion, the upper portions of said members being shaped to complementally provide a socket for receiving a driving member and to provide abutments at their lower edges for limiting the angular displacement thereof to a predetermined value.

5. An earth anchoring device comprising, in combination, a piercing element and a retaining element connected to said piercing element at a point intermediate the ends of said piercing element, said piercing element being formed of a pair of members, each of said members having a lower piercing portion and an upper deectable portion, said members being integrally connected together at the piercing portions and said deiiectable portions being separate, each of said members having a transverse cut intermediate the edges thereof and substantially at the upper boundary of said piercing portion, said deectable portions being shaped to complementally provide a socket for receiving a. driving member, a portion of said transverse cut serving to provide at the top of said piercing portion an abutment for engagement by said driving member and to facilitate bending of said deilectable portions.

6. In combination, an earth anchoring element, a relatively rigid retaining element detachably threadedly connected at one end thereof to said anchoring element, and mooring means detachably threadedly connectedto the other end of said retaining element, said detachable mooring means -and said retaining element having comple- ,element by said mooring means whereby disengagement of said retaining element from said anchoring element may be eiected.

JOSEPH C. SCOTT. 

